Cybersecurity & Risk Resources for Rural Hospitals

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Approximately 60 million people living in rural areas depend on their hospital as an important and often the primary source of care in their communities. Hospitals are also a critical component of their region’s economic and social fabric. Yet rural hospitals’ limited access to technology, staff and financial resources constrains their ability to defend against the malicious actors behind today’s ever-escalating cyberattacks and physical security threats. They cannot do it alone.

That’s why the AHA is collaborating with multiple parties across the public and private sectors to support our rural members with risk mitigation. The AHA has long been committed to helping hospitals and health systems prepare for, prevent and respond to cybersecurity and physical security risk.

Highlights

Resources to Protect America’s Rural Hospitals from Cyberthreats

Rural hospitals are especially susceptible to ransomware attacks. They are often the only hospital in a region, and when they are attacked, the entire community is put at risk. The “ransomware blast radius” — whereby the threat to patient safety cascades from the hospital to every hospital, clinic and emergency department in the region, becomes a major concern. In this Cyber & Risk Intel blog, John Riggi, AHA’s national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, outlines why it is vital to protect rural hospitals from today’s ever-escalating cyberattacks.

Start with Defense: Building a Cyber-Ready Team with Microsoft

In this Advancing Health podcast, cyber security experts from the AHA and Microsoft discuss the urgent need to build a cyber-strong workforce, particularly in rural hospital and health systems, and how methods such as re-skilling can sustain permanent cyber readiness.

Microsoft’s Cybersecurity Program for Rural Hospitals

In this video, AHA’s National Advisor for Cybersecurity and Risk John Riggi interviews Laura Kreofsky, program lead for Microsoft’s Cybersecurity Program for Rural Hospitals, about why Microsoft worked collaboratively with the White House and the AHA to create the program, and how the program helps rural hospitals understand, prepare for and respond to cyber risks. The program offers a cybersecurity assessment, staff training and affordable security software.